|
| Never stop networking. Networking is one of the keys to success. |
 |
Douglas L. CrookManaging Director of Christopher Commercial, LLC
|
 |
What ignited the spark in you to start a new business venture
or to make significant changes in an existing business?
Thats a good question. My spark has always been
there and I have always liked business and business ventures. From the
time I was young I was attracted to business and money. I started a
landscape company and operated it throughout my tenure at UNLV. Owning
the company allowed me to grow as a businessperson and person in
general. The pressure of owning a company taught me a lot about life.
Since that time, I have opened or been involved in numerous companies
and ventures.
What three pieces of advice
would you give to high school or college students who want to become
entrepreneurs?
- Keep your eyes
open for opportunities.
- Follow your dreams and
desires. If you dont have them fully pinned down they will come to
you.
- Never stop networking. Networking is one of
the keys to success.
What
stops you from throwing in the towel and giving up when you are
frustrated?
I don't throw in the towel and give up
when frustrated because I have an internal drive that keeps me going
toward the finish line. Days are tough sometimes and I don't reach my
optimum momentum or daily goals, but you must keep pushing.
In one word, characterize your life as an
entrepreneur.
Dynamic
What have been some of your failures, and what have you learned from
them?
I have learned the most in life from failures.
Whether the failures are in business or personal life learning from
them is the key to growing. I recently completed a project that went
way over budget, took longer than anticipated, and we ended up losing
money and time as a result. What I learned is that no matter what we
are all susceptible to failure and its part of life, but you can't let
them get you down or slow your momentum. I tend to study and dissect my
failures so I can be better prepared going forward.
When a student asks you if they should
consider a UNLV College of Business education, what do you
say?
When a student asks me about the UNLV College
of Business education (and they have/do) I reinforce that the College
of Business program is a great program from the standpoint of the
quality of education, the level of the professors and their research,
and the jobs that are afforded as a UNLV COB Alumni. I also say that
you can go to Harvard and accomplish less than you can at UNLV if you
don't apply yourself, so you must apply yourself at either to be
successful. If you apply yourself at UNLV you will get a great
education.
What's the biggest thing you
didn't learn in school? What's the biggest thing you did learn in
school?
The biggest thing I didn't learn in school
was the administrative side of operating a business including managing
people. Maybe this part of the education process was there and I missed
it. People management is one of my weaknesses, but I have hired a
leadership coach to help me. You can never stop learning and
growing.
The biggest thing I learned at school was
how to learn. In high school absorbed, but I did not learn. At UNLV I
learned finance. I use finance to this very day, everyday, in my
profession. I feel like I have learned a trade or skill that I can take
with me and utilize wherever I go.
|
|
 |
